White to Play

Pete Tamburro on Jan 9, 2026

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Here we have a wonderful lesson game, so you get the whole game. It’s worth taking out your board to play over. One of the key lessons is the way White develops very naturally and then—BAM! He sees the whole line to mate. Arnason-Dreev, Iceland, 1990: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 a6 4.Ngf3 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0–0 Qc7 8.a3 Be7 9.Re1 0–0 10.e5 Nfd7 11.Nb3 Nc6 12.Bf4 Nb6 13.c3 Nc4 14.Qe2 b5 15.Nbd4 Bd7 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 SEE DIAGRAM

Can you see the whole thing? After you look at the solution, go back to the diagram and see if you can imagine it in your head. 17.Ng5 Bxg5 18.Bxg5 Rae8 19.Bxh7+ Kxh7 20.Qh5+ Kg8 21.Bf6!! gxf6 22.Qg4+ Kh7 23.exf6 Kh6 23...Rg8 24.Qh5# 24.f4 Qxf4 25.Qxf4+ Kg6 26.h4 Black Resigned as 26...Rg8 27.Qg5+ Kh7 28.Qh5#

Send questions and comments to PTamburro@aol.com.